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Prime Focus (03-14) Highlights of the March Sky. - - - 1st - - - New Moon 3:00 am EST Prime Focus - - - 8thth - - - A Publication of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society First Quarter Moon 8:27 am EST November 2013 March 2014 - - - 9thth - - - Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 am. This Months KAS Events PM: Jupiter is ~7º above a This Months Events Waxing Gibbous Moon. - - - 16thth - - - General Meeting: Friday, March 7 @ 7:00 pm Full Moon 1:08 pm EDT Kalamazoo Area Math & Science Center - See Page 10 for Details - - - 17thth → 18th - - - PM: Spica and Mars form a Full Moon Theater: Saturday, March 15 @ 7:00 pm transforming triangle with the Moon. WMU Rood Hall - Room 1110 - See Page 3 for Details - - - 20thth - - - DAWN: Use binoculars to Workshop: Saturday, March 22 @ 4:00 pm see Zubenelgenubi (Alpha Librae) just left of the Optics Cleaning Workshop - Sunnyside Church - See Page 9 for Details Moon, with Saturn well to their left. Observing Session: Saturday, March 29 @ 7:00 pm Vernal equinox: Spring begins at 12:57 pm EDT. Messier Marathon - Richland Township Park - - - 21st - - - DAWN: Saturn is about 4º to the right of a Waning Gibbous Moon. Inside the Newsletter. Inside the Newsletter. - - - 23rdrd - - - Last Quarter Moon February Meeting Minutes.................... p. 2 9:46 pm EDT Board Meeting Minutes......................... p. 2 PM: The shadows of Io and Observations........................................... p. 3 Ganymede fall on Jupiter simultaneously from 10:08 Full Moon Theater..................................p. 3 pm to 10:32 pm EDT. pm to 10:32 pm EDT. A.L. Observing Programs......................p. 4 - - - 27thth - - - Geology and the Race to the Moon...p. 5 DAWN: Venus is about 3º to the lower right of a thin NASA Space Place.................................. p. 7 Waning Crescent Moon. March Night Sky......................................p. 8 - - - 30thth - - - KAS Board & Announcements............ p. 9 New Moon 2:45 pm EDT General Meeting Preview..................... p. 10 www.kasonline.org FEBRUARY BOARD Meeting Minutes Meeting Minutes The general meeting of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society The monthly board meeting of the KAS was held on was brought to order by President Richard Bell on Friday, February 9, 2014. Richard Bell brought the meeting to order February 7, 2014 at 7:16 pm. Approximately 52 members at 5:10 pm. Other board members in attendance were Joe and guests were in attendance at the Kalamazoo Area Math Comiskey, Mike Dupuis, Rich Mather (attending via Skype & Science Center (KAMSC). from North Carolina), Jack Price, and Don Stillwell. Other attendees were Mike Cook, Jean DeMott, and Mike Patton. Our special guest speaker for the evening was Dr. Robb Gillespie, an Assistant Professor with the Department of Rich Mather gave the treasurer’s report, which included a Geosciences at Western Michigan University. Dr. Gillespie cash flow summary from November 30, 2013 - February 7, has been at WMU since 2002, but this was his first 2014. The total income included a Pfizer matching gift of presentation for the KAS. The title of his presentation was $737.50. The Robotic Telescope Fund is currently at Geology and the Race to the Moon. Dr. Gillespie wrote a $65,500. rather lengthy abstract for his presentation and it sums up Upcoming KAS events in February and March were nearly everything discussed in his excellent talk. His th abstract/article begins on page 5 of this issue. discussed. The March 7 general meeting will feature Joe Comiskey’s presentation on lunar observing. On March 15th, Richard gave his monthly President’s Report after the snack the recent film Gravity is slated for the Full Moon Theater at WMU’s Rood Hall beginning at 7pm. The Messier Marathon break. He began by reading a letter we received from former th member Joe Medsker. Joe has decided to part with his is scheduled for March 29 at Richland Township Park. Rich extensive collection of lens grinding equipment. He also has Mather is planning to make arrangements with the park several telescopes he wished to give away. Greg Sirna said personnel. he planned to contact Joe about picking up his lens grinding Progress on the Robotic Telescope Project includes a recent equipment. Greg send he had ample room to store the purchase of a Paramount ME II mount. The purchase was equipment on his property and would make it available for made to take advantage of a significant price break. KAS members to use. Contact us if you’d like to be kept up- Members of the task force will test the mount after it arrives. to-date. Richard also mentioned that he mailed out the first Richard has sent a grant proposal to the Cook Nuclear Power grant for the Robotic Telescope Project. We’ll find out if it Plant to further fund this project. Other possible grant was successful in early April. proposals were also discussed. Observing reports were few and far between. It was clear the Other old business topics included Astronomy Day and the night of the meeting and many members saw the Moon on general meeting schedule. Richard and Jean have arranged the way into Old Central. Others reported glimpsing Jupiter for use of the Portage District Library for Astronomy Day. with their unaided eyes. Richard Bell talked about the light th A few open slots remain on the calendar for the 2014 general pillars visible on January 28 and how his photos received a meetings. In addition, the Nature Center has been arranged little bit of publicity for the KAS. Mark Miller also saw for the June and July General Meetings. some Sun dogs and a Sun pillar recently. New business items included two community outreach Mike Sinclair mentioned a recent video on Vimeo featuring events. Science Night occurs at Vicksburg Middle School the time lapse photography of the northern lights from Abisko evening of March 5th, and five to six KAS volunteers will be National Park in Sweden (Mike said Iceland, but we believe needed. Also, KAS volunteers will be needed in mid-June he meant Sweden). We also discussed the possible premature for youth activities at the “Blast into Space” Camp held at fate of the Chinese lunar rover Yutu (or Jade Rabbit). the Air Zoo. Engineers feared the rover might not survive the long lunar night due to a technical glitch. More recent reports state the Other new business involved opportunities for maintaining death of Yutu might be greatly exaggerated. Jean DeMott and upgrading telescopes. First, an optics cleaning workshop mentioned that SpaceX could build its first commercial is slated for the afternoon of March 22nd (see page 9 for orbital launch facility near Brownsville, Texas. details). Second, upgrades to the Owl Observatory telescope are being considered, including purchasing an Orion Finally, Jean DeMott presented a check for $1,500 from HDX110 mount, as well as a Moonlight focuser. proceeds from her plant sale. Total proceeds raised by Jean exceed $13,000! The Robotic Telescope fund-raiser is now The meeting was adjourned at 6:41 pm. The next board over $65,500! The meeting concluded at 9:28 pm. meeting will be held at 5pm on March 9th at Sunnyside. Prime Focus Page 2 March 2014 Join us for the next ObservationsObservations by Richard S. Bell Full Moon Theater Yours truly has been very busy lately. How busy? I’m glad you asked. Busier than a gopher on a golf course; busier than Saturday, March 15 @ 7:00 pm a one-eyed cat watching two mouse holes; busier than a cobra at a mongoose convention; busier than a cat in a room WMU Rood Hall - Room 1110 full of rocking chairs; busier than a weatherman in a tornado; busier than a one-legged man in an...Well, you get the idea! Looking for a little free astronomical entertainment? Then My KAS “To Do” list has been very full as of late. join us for the next installment of Full Moon Theater. The KAS will provide the popcorn and soft drinks, but feel free The first half of the year is always very hectic for me. First, to bring some snacks to share with members and guests. Just I need to find guest speakers at our general meetings. be sure to show up and have a great time! Normally that’s not too hard, but it has been unusually difficult this year. Fortunately, Dr. Robb Gillespie agreed to Our feature presentation... speak at our February meeting. It was a fine presentation and he’s already volunteered to give another talk next year. Our newest board member, Joe Comiskey, volunteered to speak at the March 7th meeting. I’m looking forward to his talk on observing the Moon, even though I detest that dead rock. Another thing that always takes a lot of time and effort is membership renewal. Some of you quickly renew when the time comes, but others that procrastinate every year. That’s okay. I’m not complaining or anything (okay, maybe a little). I am grateful for your continued support of the KAS and its mission. It’s just that sending out renewal e-mails, or worse, stuffing old-school envelopes and snail mailing them can get a little monotonous. Once you join or renew we need to get you a membership card. Often times I have board members help me stuff envelopes, but this year the timing didn’t work Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant engineer on out so I did it all myself. her first shuttle mission with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney). On a seemingly routine Another huge task at the moment is planning and preparation spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving for Astronomy Day 2014.
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